Emma Hogan BA(HONS) Animation, illustrator of the front cover of my book Keeper of the Enchanted Pool is an extremely talented artist. Her remarkable talent for painting lifelike pictures of wildlife was spotted by The Wallington Gallery. Her watercolour paintings of birds are now included amongst their collection of Fine British & European Paintings for sale, including, among many other talented artists, William Hoggatt and Bill Hindmarsh. The Wallington Gallery is based in Corbridge, Northumberland and run by run by Brian Alger with involvement from the well-known and respected Mrs. Gillian Fairless.

Emma’s eye for detail is remarkable. It has been said that her paintings look like photographs. With an ability to draw and paint in any medium and any subject, I am sure that Emma will be a name to watch out for in the Art world.

Her paintings are available from The Wallington Gallery framed and with free postage and packing Worldwide for all paintings bought on line.

Douglas Jackson’sClaudius, the sensational sequel toCaligula, is nothing short of excellent. Whilst I would highly recommend reading Caligula first, it is not necessary, as it is an exceptional ‘stand alone’ historical novel.

The author has woven in his two characters from Claudius, Rufus, the slave and Bersheba, the loveable, mischievous elephant, into the historical account of Rome’s conquer of Britain in a way that gives another dimension. ‘Seeing’ and ‘hearing’ Rufus’s version of events brings a personal touch to the proceedings, making it even more compelling.

Devious plots, battles and their aftermath are portrayed in stark detail. Together with Douglas Jackson’s own brand of wit and a few unexpected twists, it will be extremely difficult to do anything else until one has finished reading.

Allan Mayer’sTasting the Wind takes us into a realm far darker than many a fictional or true life horror story. Neglect, physical, sexual and mental abuse, torture, ridicule and murder. It is not a story set in World War 11 enemy prison camps. No, these are places that have existed since the 13th century, starting with Bethlem Royal Institution, commonly known as Bedlam.

The somewhat hapless, but extremely funny, sensitive and caring Martin Peach is thrown into what is hopefully the tail end of a very dark stain on British history following the breakup of his relationship. Two hundred miles from home, living with a couple of lovable ‘oddballs’, coping with integrating six institutionalised people with so called ‘learning difficulties’ into the community and … tangled up in solving a murder that happened ten years previously.

I got very attached to the new occupants of ‘the Bungalow’, learning difficulties? It brings to mind one of my Granny’s sayings, ‘He’s not as green as he’s cabbage looking.’ I don’t know if it was Allan Mayer’s intention, but he has shown through his writing that it is a very large proportion of the general population that has the learning difficulty.

Allan Mayer’s portrayal of life in institutions and helping to forge new lives for his characters, is stunningly accurate and poignant. His skilful injection of humour and compassion coupled with a very clever murder mystery to solve, make this a thoroughly enjoyable and compelling read.